Arraignment hearings set jury trial in Litton murder

Jamie Litton and her boyfriend T.J. Presley will face a jury of their peers in the Feb. 16, 2012 death of Litton's 3-year-old son Blake Litton. The pair have both been set to be tried by jury in Morgan County Circuit Court on first degree murder charges and abuse of a child resulting in death.

Jamie Litton and her boyfriend T.J. Presley will face a jury of their peers in the Feb. 16, 2012 death of Litton's 3-year-old son Blake Litton. The pair have both been set to be tried by jury in Morgan County Circuit Court on first degree murder charges and abuse of a child resulting in death.

Jamie Litton was set for jury trial in a formal arraignment hearing March 14 in Morgan County Circuit Court.

Presley waived a formal arraignment hearing and is also set to have a jury trial.

The dates of the trials will be scheduled at a future hearing.

Following the incident in which Blake Litton died, Presley and Jamie Litton were initially charged with second degree murder and child endangerment. The first degree murder charges were filed on Nov. 15, 2012.

Presley reported the Feb. 16 incident in which Blake Litton died to police at 5:12 a.m. as a hit-and-run accident, allegedly telling a Morgan County deputy that he stopped on the side of the road to allow Blake to use the bathroom during a trip to Presley's brother's residence in Sedalia. Presley told police Blake ran into the road and was struck by an oncoming vehicle.

Investigators were unable to find loose vehicle parts, tire tracks, blood and urine along the side of the road and found nothing to support that an accident had happened.

Following the autopsy, the case was ruled a homicide.

Much of the evidence presented during earlier hearings focused on Litton's behavior at work during the night and text messages sent between Presley and Litton between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. According to testimony by Morgan County deputy James Walker, Litton allegedly asked a co-worker "to borrow money to take her son to the hospital" after receiving text messages from Presley saying that said he "had lost it" when Blake soiled himself.

Other texts allegedly contained details about how Presley abused Blake. Presley took Blake and his younger sister, Faith, to Golden Age Nursing Home in Stover to visit Litton while she was at work.

Presley arrived at Litton's workplace around 5 a.m. and stayed for three minutes. Security footage shows Litton visiting with Presley. Litton allegedly took Blake's pulse before returning to work. Presley then drove to the site of the feigned hit-and-run with Blake and Faith. Prosecution alleges Litton did not call for an ambulance or police once Presley left.

Litton, whose shift was scheduled to end at 6 a.m., clocked out at 5:15 a.m. She then allegedly walked to a co-workers house to use a phone charger and was driven to the scene thereafter.